Pancreatic Cancer Risk in Prediabetes: A Systematic Meta-Analysis Approach.

Abstract

Objectives: Pancreatic cancer and Prediabetes pose significant public health challenges. Given the lack of strong evidence and inconsistencies, we performed a meta-analysis to assess the risk of pancreatic cancer in prediabetes.

Methods: We performed a thorough search of the major databases over the last 10 years to identify relevant articles. The Pooled odds ratio(OR) and Hazard Ratio(HR) were combined to calculate the effect size(ES).

Results: We analyzed 5 studies including 5,425,111 prediabetic individuals and 16,096,467 normoglycemic population across five countries with a median follow-up of 8.5 years. We identified a noteworthy association between prediabetes and pancreatic cancer, reporting an unadjusted effect size (ES) of 1.36 (95% CI 1.05-1.77, P = 0.02) and an adjusted ES of 1.40 (1.23-1.59, P < 0.01). Subgroup analyses by age revealed variations in risk, with studies involving participants aged 60 and above exhibiting a higher effect size (ES 1.83, 95% CI 1.28-2.62, P < 0.01). Geographical differences were also observed, with Japanese studies reporting a higher risk (ES 1.89, 95% CI 1.15-3.10, P < 0.01) compared to those from the USA (ES 1.32, 95% CI 1.13-1.53, P < 0.01).

Conclusion: We identified 40% higher risk of pancreatic cancer in patients with prediabetes than those with normal blood glucose necessitating urgent attention for further research and policy change.